


Deserted

by secrettemplars (tricycleamoving)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen, Multi, Mythical Beings & Creatures, One Shot Collection, POV Second Person, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-12
Packaged: 2018-04-26 00:49:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4983442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tricycleamoving/pseuds/secrettemplars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A compilation of fics I started writing and never finished.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deserted

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, I said I would start an ao3 collection of all the fics i've never gotten around to finished, and here it is! I'm not sure how often I'll be updating this (and I don't actually have a lot of wips lying around either lol... generally if something's posted here, I've entirely given up on finishing it, which is rare). 
> 
> Enjoy!

From behind the glass, the waves crash into the shore and retreat again, leaving behind only broken seashells and seafoam the colour of ivory. It's almost hypnotic, the way the waves make contact with the land, crashing into it with such fervent anger, before ultimately leaving it again.

"Mom, do you love me?" Seijuurou asks, looking down at their untouched lunch. They are only five.

"Of course I do," you gasp in reply, rushing over to their side from the windowsill, sitting beside them and running a hand through their hair, "What made you think otherwise?"

"It's just..." they say, brows furrowed as they look at you, their red eyes an eerie reflection of your own, "It's just that you always look so _sad_ , mom. Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, mommy's not sad," you say, putting on your brightest smile for them, "What gave you that idea?"

"But mom, you _are_  sad," they reply, frowning, before tapping at the area beneath their left eye, "I can see it. Mom's always blue. I don't like it when you're blue."

"Well, it's not you that's making me sad, Seijuurou," you say, your smile faltering for a moment at their words (but you keep it up anyway. You must, for them), "It's just... sometimes mommy gets sad. There's nothing wrong with being sad sometimes."

"But you're always blue," Seijuurou replies, looking at you in a way that a five year old should not be, as if there was a big secret that only they were privy to, and it scares you a little bit to think about what that means, "You're always a shade of blue, but sometimes you become red when Father is around..."

They trail off into silence.

"Mom," Seijuurou says, moments later, "Do you love Father?"

Your silence says enough.

"Of course I do, Seijuurou," you say, after a while, and even then your smile feels too fake, as if you pasted it onto your face with oil and sea-slime, "How could you ever think such a thing? Your papa and I love each other very much."

Seijuurou only stares at you, their brow still furrowed, as if they were busy solving a great mystery in their head. For a moment, you contemplate telling them the truth, but the thought is dismissed immediately: Seijuurou is five years old. Seijuurou will not understand.

"And Mom loves me too, right?" Seijuurou asks, twiddling their fingers, eyes pointed down at their feet.

"Don't you ever for a _second_  think that mommy doesn't love you, Seijuurou," you say, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to their forehead, "Mommy might be sad sometimes, but _you_ are what makes mommy happier."

It's then that Seijuurou finally smiles that beautiful smile of theirs, so radiant and full of light that for a moment your longing dissipates, and the sound of the waves stop swimming in your head for a second. This is what keeps you going, keeps you from tearing the house apart, keeps you from storming out the door and into the dark embrace of the ocean. You lean over and embrace Seijuurou, feeling such joy from the way their tiny hands hug you back.

In this storm, only Seijuurou is your anchor.

"Oh yeah!" Seijuurou exclaims, once you finally let them go, "Mom, I found something really weird earlier. Do you wanna see it?"

_Probably another mermaid's purse_ , you think to yourself as you nod at them, smiling as they scramble out the door to get their latest find. Seijuurou always had a knack for finding such things - a keen eye, is what you tell yourself. You are afraid to think about it any further.

Either way, you are content. You do not allow yourself to leave this house, willingly trapping yourself within this cage of glass and bricks. You do not know what will happen if you ever allow yourself to step out of this house, so close to the shore as you are. This way, with Seijuurou showing you the bits and pieces they find playing on the sandy shore, you are able to trick yourself into thinking that you are content, that you are happy among these people. This way, it is enough to survive.

While you wait, you tread over to the sink to pour yourself a glass of water in one of those curious plastic animal cups Seijuurou is so fond of. The melancholy hits you once again, but you try your best to tamp it down: Seijuurou will be back. You have to smile for Seijuurou.

The smile only returns when you hear the telltale tapping of tiny feet running up wooden floors, and you turn around to face the door, waiting for Seijuurou to return.

"It's a bit big, but look what I found, mom!" Seijuurou exclaims, before hopping out from behind the door and holding their find in front of them, like a proud prince.

You don't even register the water splashing your feet when your cup hits the floor.

"Mom?" Seijuurou asks, voice soft and hesitant, "Mom, you're switching colours too fast..."

"Seijuurou," you say, and even to you your voice sounds foreign, like you are no longer there anymore, replaced by pure _want_  and longing, "Seijuurou, where did you find that?"

There, grasped within Seijuurou's tiny hands, was a beautiful sealskin, as glorious and sleek as you once remembered it being. You clench your fists so hard it hurts, the only thing stopping you from lunging forward and snatching it out of your child's hands. Seijuurou is still here. You have to keep up appearances, if only for them.

"Don't tell Father but... I looked at his things in the room upstairs," Seijuurou says, and the smallest hint of fear in their eyes is enough to jar you back to reality for a little bit, "and I found that. Mom, are you mad at me? Please don't tell Father..."

Red-hot fury burns through you for a second: the attic. Of _course_  he would have hidden it there. There were too many things in that attic, too much lost treasures and unwanted junk, that only someone with too good an eye could ever even attempt to find your pelt there.

Only someone like Seijuurou.

"I'm not mad at you, Seijuurou," you say, though you don't take a step closer (it's too tempting, and the sound of the waves crashing in your eyes is louder than ever, it would just be so easy to reach out-), "Let's... keep this our little secret, okay?"

Seijuurou nods, the sealskin still clutched in their tiny hands. The fear starts to leave their eyes, but a hint of hesitation still lingers there, unnerved.

"How about this," you hear yourself say, eyes still glued to that (to _your_ ) pelt, "Why don't you hide that in your drawer so papa doesn't know, then come back and finish your lunch?"

"Okay," Seijuurou says, after a minute of hesitation, "Promise you won't tell Father?"

"Of course, Seijuurou," you reply. Seijuurou runs out the door, sealskin in hand, and it is only then that you allow yourself to let out a sigh of relief. Cradling your head in your hands, you let yourself cry, hot tears trickling down your cheeks.

How many _years_  have you spent in this house, trapped within this cage?

How long has it been since that man snatched your skin from the shore?

You held some affection for Masaomi once, you think, back when you were young and naive and believed that land-dwellers were worth interacting with. You remember the way the waves lapped against your skin, the way the sun shone down hot on your face. It was a beautiful day, with the sun high up in the sky and a man stumbling upon your spot, bewilderment and awe in his eyes. He was a beautiful man, the first you had ever really interacted with, and perhaps it was your curiosity that was your downfall.

Your eyes drift back towards the window, out towards the sea.

You loved Masaomi once, and you love Seijuurou now, but your love for the sea will always be eternal.

Always.

Tiny footsteps echo down the hallway again and you hastily wipe at your eyes, hoping to conceal any evidence of your frustration. You concentrate on your breathing, and soon your hands stop trembling, though your heart still pounds, heavy in your chest.

"I hid it," Seijuurou says, panting, before staring at you with those curious eyes again. They walk forward, step by step until they're right in front of you, staring up into your eyes, some sort of hidden emotion hidden behind them.

"I'm sorry, mom," Seijuurou says, before leaning forward to hug you. You kneel down and embrace them properly, running a hand through their hair. You say nothing, but still you stay there, hugging them until they pull back (it is a while until they do so).

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Seijuurou," you say, ruffling their hair and smiling when they try to pat at it with their little hands, "Look at me. Does mommy look very blue?"

"Hmm, no..." Seijuurou says, poking you on the nose, "Mommy's a _teeny_  bit blue, but she's more yellow."

"Which means...?" you trail off, waiting for them to come to their own conclusion.

"Which means..." Seijuurou repeats, tilting their head before seemingly having a epiphany of some sort, "Which means mommy is happy?"

"Yes, Seijuurou," you say, before you pick them up in your arms and twirl them around, the peals of laughter that Seijuurou lets out sounding like tinkling bells in your head. You want to laugh too, but you restrain yourself, instead basking in the pure joy Seijuurou emits.

A part of you feels guilty for tricking Seijuurou like this (for you are happy, just not for the reason they think you are). The other part of you can only think:  _I'm free._

"Now come on, Seijuurou," you say once you put them back down on the floor, "You need to finish your lunch."

"Yes, mom!" Seijuurou exclaims, running out of your arms and stumbling back onto their chair. You smile as they dig into their rice and soup, while your heart beats fast in anticipation.

Tonight.

You would hold out until tonight.

Then, you will be free.

**Author's Note:**

>  _Female selkies are said to make excellent wives, but because their true home is the sea, they will often be seen gazing longingly at the ocean. If she finds her skin she will immediately return to her true home, and sometimes to her selkie husband, in the sea. Sometimes, a selkie maiden is taken as a wife by a human man and she has several children by him. In these stories, it is one of her children who discovers her sealskin (often unwitting of its significance) and she soon returns to the sea._ ([x](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selkie)) [yes i took it from wikipedia, shh]
> 
> Luckily I actually managed to write enough of this one that it kinda feels complete on its own, even though it really isn't? I still wanted to write a lot more about Shiori's escape later that night, and how the remainder of the Akashi family deal with it. 
> 
> They/them pronouns used for Akashi, because this is me, what else would you expect lmao. 
> 
> If I got around to finishing this one, it would definitely have been part of my _[drowning in the second person](http://archiveofourown.org/series/245446)_ series.


End file.
